Direct into Indirect

Direct into Indirect

Things to remember

When you get any sentence to change into indirect, you should see carefully the following points-

DIRECT into INDIRECT

 1.Tense

 2.Reporting verb

 3.Type of sentence 

 4.Removal of punctuation marks

 5.,Pronoun

 Let's take each point to understand the necessary changes -

1. Tense

a. Simple Present - Simple Past

e.g. am/is/are  - was/were

b.Simple Past - Past Perfect

e.g. was/were - has been

c. Present Continuous - Past Continuous

e.g. am/is/are+ Ving - was/were+Ving

d. Past Continuous - Past Perfect Continuous

e.g. was/were+Ving - had been Ving

2. Reporting verb (if the reporting verb is in )

a. Simple present - No change in tense

says - no change in tense

b. Simple Future - No change in tense

will say - No change in tense

c. Simple past - Change in tense

said - change the tense as per the need

d. Simple past - according to the mood of sentence

said - reported,ordered,requested,asked,exclaimed

3. Removal of Punctuation marks and Pronouns

  a. Remove double inverted comma

  b. Remove comma which is before inverted comma

  c. Change the place of verb(make it a statement)

  d. Change question mark, exclamatory mark into full stop

  e. Change the pronoun as per the need

e.g. I - he/she , my - his/her , we - they , us - them etc.

5. Type of sentence

  a. Assertive

  b. Interrogative

  c. Imperative

  d. Exclamation

A. Assertive sentence

told/said that + change the pronoun + change the tense 

e.g.1. He said,"I do my homework."

Ans. He said that  he did his homework.

      2. He said,"I did my homework."

Ans. He said that he had done his homework

     3. He said,"I'm doing my homework."

Ans. He said that he was doing his homework."

    4. He said,"I was doing my homework."

Ans He said that he had been doing his homework.

B. Interrogative sentence

i. Yes/No type    ii. Wh type

Yes/No type (do not use that)

asked+if/whether+change the question into assertive+change the pronoun+change the tense

e.g. 1. He said,"Do you finish your work?"

Ans. He asked whether I/he/she finished my/his/her work.

      2. He  said,"Did you finish your work?"

Ans. He inquired if he had finished his work.

      3. He said,"Have you done your homework?"

Ans. He questioned whether he had done his homework.

      4. He said,"Are you finishing your homework?"

Ans. He asked whether he was finishing his homework.

      5. He said," Were you finishing your homework?"

Ans. He asked whether he had been finishing his homework.

ii. Wh type (don't use that)

asked+same Wh word + Change the sentence into assertive+change the pronoun+change the tense

e.g. 1. He said,"Why are you laughing at me?"

Ans.He asked why he/I was laughing at him.

       2. He said,"Why do you laugh at me?"

Ans. He asked  why I/he laughed at him.

       3.He asked,"Why did you laugh at me?"

Ans. He asked why I/he had laughed at him.

       

C. Imperative sentence

commanded/instructed/requested+to/not to + V

e.g.1.He said,"Speak the truth."

Ans. He ordered to speak the truth.

      2. He said,"Don't tell lie."

Ans. He instructed not to tell lie.

D. Exclamatory sentence

exclaimed/wished/prayed+that + change the exclamation into assertive+change the pronoun and tense

e.g.1.  The little princess said,"How beautiful the garden is!"

Ans. The little princess exclaimed that the garden was very beautiful.

      2. He said,"Alas! I have wasted all my money."

Ans. He exclaimed with regret that he had wasted all his money.

Universal Truths and habitual action - No change in tense

e.g. The teacher said,"The earth revolves around the sun."

Ans. The teacher informed that the earth revolves around the sun.

Some examples to solve -

1.He said,"What kind of music do you like?"

2."Help me father",he screamed.

3."Will you buy my hair?"asked Della.

4.He said,"My cousin will sell his bike."

5.Mel said to his father,"I met  Uncle William two days ago here."

6.Anish said to the shopkeeper,"Please give me a packet of flour."

7. She asked me,"Why did you not come earlier?"

8.i said to him,"Sir,do you know, only four out of one lakh people cross the age of 100?"

9."Follow my example,"she said as we shook hands,"and never eat more than one thing for luncheon." 

10. Miss Eva said to her class," Water is a precious natural resource."